Garage opener fix

 Well we had collateral damage from the wind and rain storm that took out lots of trees in Torrington and more of Connecticut.

With the power out of course the garage door opener was not working.  So pull the cord for the manual release and next thing you know - open garage.  But with a catch - the door opened and crashed into the plastic cover over the light and said cover hit the ground an broke.  No problem, this has happened before.  A little bit of superglue and we will be back in business.  Except it also dislodged the bulb and socket.  The next day when the power came on, the open worked, but the wires going to the bulb (110V) were doing a  dangerous dance with the housing.  The next day - nothing, dead as a doornail.

A quick check showed that the power was good going into the opener, but it was then going nowhere.  On a hunch I looked at the bulb socket and the unprotected wire showed burn marks from having grounded on the housing.  Did not see any fuses or circuit breakers, so I took down the back panel with the circuit board.  What? One of the solder tracks was burned and two others were starting to go.  Could it be that easy.  One small wire and some solder later and the unit sprang back to life.  (will add a picture some day, but it has lasted 40 years so far so maybe the next time I take it apart will be .....????)

So what did I learn?  Well that 3 cents worth of tape or 5 cents worth of insulated connectors would have prevented this.  They are now taped up.  And the rails will have a stop to make sur that the door can never crash into the unit from now on.  Actually - there is a bolt and nut that looks like it might have been intended to be a stop.  I found a manual where it is called a "trolley stop" but without the drive slide, the trolley rides right over it.....    A large fender washer fixes this problem.

So if you have a 40 year old (or newer) chain drive Sears or similar garage door opener - make sure the door stop works when the system is is hand mode!

YouTube TV Video not available

 All of a sudden, I was not able to watch YouTube TV on my computer.

Searched the Internet for answers and did everything they said.

Well not everything.

I did reboot, check settings and sign in/sign out.

I did NOT clear cookies or clear the web browser history.

What I found on a Reddit (Thanks ShermanSherbert) was that since YouTube TV is connected to YouTube itself, settings in one can affect the other.

In this case I had turned ON "Restricted Mode" in order to not see all the comments on YouTube (which is the cause of mist time wasting.....)

This carried over to YouTube TV and prevented the video from playing!

So turning it OFF now allowed me to watch YouTube TV.

Passing this on to help others.

ChrisZ

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ground Strap

 I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 93,000 Connecticut miles (salt on roads)

I knew the ground straps were subject to corrosion, but imagine my surprise when I looked and it broke by itself!

This particular strap is just a push on retainer on one side and a 6mm bolt and nut on the other.  I was able to twist the push on side off but the cable itself was gone.

I found a generic cable at NAPA, but how to fasten it to the engine?*

I trimmed the old part down and soldered it on top of the new part:

Strap before

Strap after

After that it was no problem to push the one end on and bolt the other end to the frame.

* One day I will look for a nut and bolt and put a proper ground strap on it.

Mini Cooler Lower Radiator Hose Dragging

I have a 2010, R55, Mini Cooper Clubman.

This seems to go for all 2nd generation Minis.

The plastic bracket that holds the lower radiator hose, sags due to age and heat, exposing the hose to be scraped when going over speedbumps, driveway aprons, etc.

Some people replace the brackets on a regular basis.  There is also a undercar belly pan*

* this is one style, I have not tried it so do not know how it fits.

Because of the cost, I went for the cheap fix.  I took a piece of .065" aluminum, 2" x 5" with a slight kick up at one end.  Wrapped it is duct tape and placed it between the spoiler and radiator fan housing and drilled for a screw to keep it in place.  

It cradles the hose in the right location, all the pressure is on the clamp and not the hose.

This should keep the hose where it belongs and away from any obstacles.

To improve on this you might make a larger part that would go under the existing plastic pins that hold the spoiler on.  This could be made to protect the entire length of hose, but just holding it up seems sufficient.

 

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Lower Radiator Hose - Hose clamp

 I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee that developed a slow water leak.

It seemed to be like this leak here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbNvvRXk-Fc

Here is the discussion about this specific video

https://www.jeepgarage.org/threads/coolant-leak-at-lower-radiator-hose-radiator.224081/

As a quick fix I put a hose clamp next to the existing clamp:

Now this would have been right on the "nipple" of the radiator. So I did not put it on very tight.  It was enough for me to do a 200 mile trip with no leakage - probably would have gone for longer.

To replace the clamp I made sure there was no pressure in the system, in fact took the radiator cap off and then back on to create a slight vacuum if it did leak.  Went to take the clamp off and it broke - had to use a Dremel to CAREFULLY cut part of the clamp and then it came off.  You can see were it was broken - it was not completely broken on the car, but was enough to release pressure.

I put the screw hose clamp on where the old clam was.  Later when I go to change the antifreeze I will probably change the hose.

I will be reporting this as if it had happened on a hot day I would probably have lost all the fluid and maybe the hose would have come off the radiator.

If you see a leak here, by leaving the cap loose so no pressure would build up, and continually filling it, you might be able to limp it to a repair shop.

What is going on with Auto Parts?

 In the last few months I have had more defective parts than in the last 5 years.

1. A Steering box for a VW Beetle had a defective machines pitman arm splines.

2. A Shock absorber had a scroll grove in what was supposed to be a polished shaft.

3. Brake pads needed ears ground down to fit in a caliper.

And when you go to the web, many mechanics are complaining about part quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yOzQI80-k0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHg5eK2i96M&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZly31bu2E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWaTJgMciM

iPhone wants you to log into iTunes.

 iPhone wants you to log into iTunes.

Password Not recognized

Cannot update and App

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I was trying to update my Apps on my phone when the phone kept asking me for a password.

It did not like any of the passwords I put in, but it kept asking me to log into iTunes.

After changing the password several times,  I went to the Internet to see if anyone had the same problem.

Actually they did.  The App that was trying to update was from someone else's  phone profile.

How did that happen?  The last Apple OS update erased all my active passwords and caused my SETTINGS app to disappear.  To fix this they had me do a home screen reboot, which restored all the Apple icons.  In doing so, this picked up all sorts of icons, which were probably from when my wife had the phone.  I had deleted most of them, but this snuck through.

Now it should NOT have been there to start with.

To fix I deleted the app from my phone - if I want it back I would have to re-purchase it from the App Store under my account.

A simple fix but took an hour to figure out.  There was no message as to which account it was purchased under.  Most of the time it just said the Password was invalid.

And at the same time the Apple Store was shut down due to the release of the Apple iPhone 14.

What a perfect storm.

Link to Apple Discussion.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Cabin Filter

This also works for many other cabin filters

Look at the picture below:

This was how the cabin filter came out of my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I wonder how much the filter was actually filtering?

Tip - Watch carefully as to the directional arrows on the filter.  Some say this side up, others say "Arrows show air direction"   In my case, the arrows on the filter point down.  Now the person who put the filter in last time, put the writing to the side or back so it was not apparent how it came out.....

Take your time - if something does not go in smoothly, do not force it and assume it will spring back.

Mark filters like this before they come out and to up or down.

ChrisZ

I wish you a Merry Christmas Tree

Today I am going to tell you how to make your Christmas tree last longer by telling you what not to do.

When I picked up our tree this year, from the local volunteer fire department, when I got home I thought the tree looked a little dry. So when I filled it with water, I added some miracle grow. Well, as Mythbusters found out, adding fertilizer, or Miracle Grow to the water actually makes things worse, and after a week, needles were falling like snowflakes in a blizzard. My guess is that the tree could not suck up the thick fluid and it clogged up the pores of the tree. Either that, or the tree could not process the Miracle Grow without a root system.

Either way, the tree barely made it to Christmas. My wife drilled holes in the side to try and get more water in and sprayed the tree with hairspray to help keep it going that long.

So here is the trick - to make your tree last long - don't do anything. Do a fresh ocut of at least one to two inches and fill the tree stand with plain water!

Merry Christmas

Washing Machine Repair

Recently, our washing machine stopped spinning - well during the spin cycle that is. Not a good thing when you are trying to get most of the water out of the clothes. In order t0 tell you how to fix this, you need to know how the washer works.

Most washers are now direct drive - that means there are no belts to fall off. No belts does not mean less parts however. The main parts are:
1. The Drum/Tub
2. The Motor
3. The Gearbox
4. The Pump
5. The controls

So let's go through how the washer works:
1. You set the controls
2. The tub fills up with water
3. The motor spins and through the gearbox works the agitator
4. When finished washing, the motor turns in the opposite direction, turning on the pump and through a clutch spins the drum.

Now the pump is directly connected to the motor, and the gearbox is connected through a flexible coupling.

So, if the washer fills but doesn't agitate or spin, but the water drains out, then the pump and the motor are okay.

If the agitator works and the water drains out, but the drum does not spin, then the clutch is probably the problem.

Note: if the drum doesn't spin AND the water does not drain, it is probably the safety switch in the lid that is not working.

Now, I figured out my clutch was slipping so much that the drum would not spin. While I was waiting for parts to arrive, I sprayed the clutch and the brake with auto brake parts cleaner. It turns out both were gummed up with a combination of oil water and dust. After cleaning, the washer is spinning fine. Now I am going to replace the clutch anyway, but this trick might help you get out of trouble.

Note 2: the clutch works with the brake, the brake has to release in order for the clutch to drive the drum. When you get a new clutch they should supply a new brake release lever.

Now, armed with this information, you should be able to either repair your washer, or at least know how to talk to a repairman.

ChrisZ